ANAHEIM — Jo Adell made good on his opportunity this time.
The Angels all-or-nothing slugger struck out to end a loss earlier this week, an opportunity that Ron Washington gave him so he could learn.
Fast forward to Sunday. Adell was up again with the game on the line in the eighth, and he delivered a three-run homer to send the Angels on their way to a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
“The other night, it didn’t go my way in a big moment,” Adell said. “Today it did and I’m excited about that. Move forward with that and build on it.”
Adell’s 15th homer of the season sent the Angels (41-55) into the All-Star break with a three-game winning streak.
“Those are the types of things he’s capable of doing when he learns what he is doing,” Washington said. “He doesn’t quite know what he’s doing yet. But when he learns what he’s doing, he’s gonna be a pretty good player. And that power that he showed, he didn’t get that ball, but he got it enough to get it over the fence.”
The Angels had done nothing for the first seven innings against Mariners All-Star right-hander Logan Gilbert.
With the Angels down 2-0, Mickey Moniak started the eighth by drawing a four-pitch walk from Ryan Stanek, who then left with an injury.
Zach Neto followed by walking against Austin Voth.
Adell then got a 3-and-2 sweeper from Voth and he lifted it just over the fence in left-center. Adell pounded his chest as he circled the bases with his biggest hit of the season.
“That was huge for Adell because he’s been in many of those situations,” Washington said. “And now he’s come through. Now he realized he is capable of coming through and whatever his thought process was at that time, that’s what it takes. So he’s learning. He’s growing.”
Right-hander Roansy Contreras then worked the ninth to pick up a save, ending a day that the Angels got surprisingly good work out of a bullpen game with a taxed bullpen.
Carson Fulmer got the ball to start as the Angels continue to try to piece together a rotation without any obvious choice for the final two spots.
Fulmer had pitched well most of the season, working in long relief.
On Sunday, he buzzed through the Seattle lineup easily for four innings, retiring all 12 hitters on 54 pitches, with six strikeouts. Fulmer struck out the first batter in the fifth, and then second baseman Keston Hiura made a spectacular play for the second out. Hiura went to his right and then had to spin and throw without planting his feet.
Unfortunately for the Angels, the very next play was a routine grounder to Hiura, and he made a bad throw, allowing the first baserunner of the game for the Mariners.
Fulmer then hit a batter and walked one to load the bases, but Hunter Strickland bailed him out of the jam by getting a popup.
Strickland gave up the game’s first run on a J.P. Crawford homer in the sixth, and the Mariners added an insurance run against Matt Moore in the seventh.
At that point the Angels had just two hits and looked to be headed to the break with a whimper, but Adell delivered a bang.
It helped to win a series against the first-place Mariners.
“We just had a great series the No. 1 contender in our division,” Washington said. “They didn’t give us anything. We won three straight ballgames from them… That should be a sign that we can play. Where the Seattle Mariners are is where we want to be. And we just proved we can play with them.”
